Introduction to the Program and School Grades
Primary Years Programme
At Al-Bassam International Schools, We are an IB-PYP Authorized School our learners are enrolled as Primary Years Program learners aged 3 to 12 years old in the Kindergarten and up to the Sixth grade classes.
The Primary Years Programme (PYP) offers a transdisciplinary, inquiry-based and student-centered education with responsible action at its core, enabling students to learn between, across and beyond traditional subject boundaries.
The framework serves as the curriculum organizer and offers an in-depth guide to achieve authentic conceptual inquiry-based learning that is engaging, significant, challenging and relevant for PYP students.
Through the programme of inquiry and by reflecting on their learning, PYP students develop knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and the attributes of the IB Learner profile. Informed by constructivist and social-constructivist learning theories, the emphasis on collaborative inquiry and integrative learning honours the curiosity, voice, and contribution of the students through six transdisciplinary :
Who We Are
Where Are We In Place and Time
How the World Works
How We Organize Ourselves
How We Express Ourselves
Sharing the Planet
PYP Learners study the following six fields as framed by the IB program:
The Language
Social Studies
Personal, Social and Physical Education
Math
Science and Technology
Arts
Classes are also offered for Identity Subjects, which are Arabic Language, Islamic Studies and the Holy Qur’an.
Middle Years Programme
Al-Bassam International Schools we are interested on the MYP, we receive middle school learners where we seek to implement the practices of the Middle Years Program, a program offered for the age group from 11 to 16 years and that encourages learners to make practical connections between their studies and the real world. The Middle Years Program is comprehensive by design so that it enables learners of all academic interests and abilities take advantage of their participation.
The MYP requires at least 50 hours of teaching time for each subject group in each year of the programme. In years 4 and 5, students have the option to take courses from six of the eight subject groups within certain limits, to provide greater flexibility in meeting local requirements and individual student learning needs.
Each year, students in the MYP also engage in at least one collaboratively planned interdisciplinary unit that involves at least two subject groups.
Middle school learners study subjects according to the following topics:
Language acquisition
Language and literature
Individuals and Societies
Science
Math
Arts
Physical Education and Health
Design
Information Technology classes, as well as Identity Subjects, which are Arabic language, Islamic Studies, and Social Studies are also offered.
IB Learners’ Profile
One of the most prominent characteristics of the IB school learners is the development of a series of traits that make up their personalities. This takes place within the context of the school day and practices that focus on the learners being inquirer, thinker, knowledgeable, principled, balanced, caring ,courageous and open-minded.
IB learners are also:
encouraged to think critically and solve complex problems
drive their own learning
a core part in educational programs that can lead them to some of the highest-ranking universities around the world
more culturally aware, through the development of a second language
able to engage with people in an increasingly globalized, rapidly changing world.